Miniature shuffleboard



Oct. 11, 1955 ANDREWS ETAL 2,720,398

MINIATURE SHUFFLEBOARD Filed Feb. 21, 1952 Fig.3 4:? 30 A 46 I I I Fig.4

Fig. 5

Francis J. Andrews 64 Gilmore E Davis IN VEN TORS.

2 BY wi 0 19m United States Patent "OfiFlC6 2,720,398 Patented Oct. 1 1, 1955 MINIATURE SHUFFLEBOAR-D Francis J. Andrews, Baltimore, and Gilmore E. Davis, Sparrows Point, Md.

ApplicationFebruaryfll, 1952, Serial No. 272,792

1 Claim. (Cl. 273-126) This invention "relates in general to a "game apparatus forplayingshuflleboard, andmore'particularly to a miniature shuflleboard'game having projection means for slid ing, the game pieces along the playing surface of a gameboard.

The primary object of this invention isto provide an improved miniature shulileboard game including a playing surface'having mounted at each end thereof a projecjtor for sliding game pieces along the playing surface of the board.

Ventingtheir accidental loss.

Another object of this invention is to provide an improved miniature shufileboard game which includes a shuffleboard playing suifalce which. is mounted within a box whereby excess wax deposited upon the playing surface may be deposited intothe box surrounding the shufffleboard playing surface and prevent the spreading of the l'o'oseexcess wax to the surrounding area.

A further object of this invention is to provide an improved projector for use with a miniature shuflleboard,

saidprojector'being mounted for movement transverse to the longitudinal axis of the shuflieboard and also being pivotal whereby game pieces may be slid along the shuffle- Iboard playing surface at any desired angle.

With these objects definitely in view, this invention re- .sides in certain novel features of construction, combination and arrangement of elements and portions as will be hereinafter described in detail in the specification, particularly pointed out in the appended claim, and illustrated in the accompanying drawings which form a material part of this specification, and in which;

Figure 1 is a top plan view of theimproved miniature jshufileboard, which is the. subject of this invention, and shows'thej general relationship ofthe box, the shufileboard playing surface, and the projectors mountedswithin the "box adjacentthe ends of theshuflleboard:playingsurface;

Figure 2is a longitudinal vertical sectional view taken substantially upon the plane indicated by the section line .22 of Figure 1 and showing the general relationship of .the shuflleboardjplaying surface ::to the walls of the box and themanner in which the boxis mounted with.respect to a conventional supportingxsurface, the projector being illustrated in its forward spring urged position with the game piece end thereof resting upon the upper surface of the playing surface;

Figure 3 is an enlarged partial longitudinal vertical sectional view, taken substantially upon the plane indicated by the section line 33 of Figure 1 and showing the general construction of the projector and its relationship to the shufileboardplaying surface, the projector being illustrated in its position prior to the release of same for sliding a game piece along the surface of the shuiileboard,

the normal position of the plunger of the projector being illustrated. in dotted lines;

"Figure 4 is an enlarged transverse vertical sectional view, taken substantially upon the plane indicated by the section line 4-4 of Figure 3 and showing the projector in its central position, alternative position of the projector beingillustrated by dotted lines; and

Figure ,5 is an enlarged. perspective view of the mounting :block for the projector, said mounting block having a longitudinal extended gutter in the upper surface thereof and being intended. to be mounted between the two side walls of the box adjacent one end thereof.

Similar characters of reference designate similar or identical elements and portions throughout the specification and throughout the "different views of the drawings.

Referring now to the drawings in detail, it will be seen that there is illustrated in Figures 1 and 2 the miniature shufileboard, which is the subject of this invention. The

miniature shu'fileboardincludes an open box having a bottom 10, side walls 12 and 14, and end Walls 16yand 18. The box is supported upon any conventional flatsurface such as a table, the fiat surface being referred to by the reference numeral. 20. .In order that the box may be suitably mounted on the surface '20, it is provided withlongitudinally extending supporting frame raiis 22 which are secured to the lower surface of the bottom 10 and extend along'the longitudinal edge. thereof. Also secured to the lower surface of the bottom 10 is a plurality of transverse supporting frame members 24 which are mounted at the .ends of the box andintermediate transverse supporting frame member 26 which is mounted at the central portion of the box.

'Mounted within the box and supported directly by the bottom .10 is a shuffieboard 28 which has conventional scoring indicia marked thereon. It will be noted that the shuffleboard 28 is spaced from'the side and end walls of the box .and extends. abovethe bottom 10 thereof in order to 'form a continuous gutter around the edges thereof.

The continuous gutter surrounding the shuffleboard 28 is referred to in general by the reference numeral 29 and the purpose thereof willbe set forth in detail hereinafter.

In the playing ofthe game of shuffleboard, a plurality of game pieces are provided for each of the opponents and it is the purpose of the game to slide the game piecesjalong the shuffleboard surface in an effort to position them in designated areas whereby points are scored. 111 the average game of .shuffleboard, the game pieces are propelled .by an elongated cue held by the operator. However, due

to the size of the miniature shufileboard 28, it is obvious that .largecues cannot be utilized for pushing the game .pieces along the surface of the shuffleboard. In order that gamepieces may be easily slid along the surface of the shuffleboard 28, there has been provided at each. end of the box adjacent the end of the shufileboard 28 pro jection means which is referred to in general by the reference. numeral 30.

Referring now to Figure 3 in particular, itwill be seen that there :is shown in detail one of the projection means 30. The projection means 30 includes a-tubular barrel 32 having a .closedrear end 34. The forward end of the;barr,e1.3;2.is alsoclosed by a closure cap 36 which is internally threaded and threadedly engaged on-the threaded end 38 of the barrel 32. Slidably extending through the barrel 32 and projecting through openings 40 and 42 in the closed end 34 and cap 42, respectively, is an elongated plunger 44.

The elongated plunger 44 has its rear end 46 threaded and a circular handle 48 is threadedly engaged thereon. The forward end of the elongated plunger 44 is also threaded as at 50 and has threadedly mounted thereon a game piece end 52 which is generally of half-moon shape and provides a recess in which is received a game piece 54.

In order that forward motion may be imparted to the plunger 44 after it has been moved rearwardly through the barrel 32, a coil spring is mounted within the barrel 32. The coil spring is referred to by the reference numeral 55 and engages the inner surface of the closed end 34 of the barrel 32. Carried by the elongated plunger 44 is an annular stop member 56 which engages the other end of the coil spring 55 and compresses same when the plunger 44 is moved rearwardly. When the handle 48 is released and the plunger 44 is in the position illustrated in Figure 3, the plunger 44 and its associated elements move forward until the stop member 56 engages the surface of a resilient pad 58 carried by the barrel adjacent the cap 42. When the stop member 56 engages the resilient pad 58 the forward motion of the plunger 44 is stopped and the game piece 54 slides along the playing surface of the shuffleboard 28 due to the motion imparted thereto.

In order that the barrel 32 and its associated plunger 44 may be moved to any desired position in order to slide the game pieces 54 along the surface of the shufileboard 28 at any desired angle, the barrel 32 is secured to a mounting member 60. The mounting member 60 is in turn swivelly mounted on a mounting block 62 carried by the box. The mounting block 62 is in the form of a generally rectangular block having an elongated groove 64 of rectangular cross section in the upper surface thereof and extending longitudinally between the ends of the block 62. As is best illustrated in Figure 1, the mounting block 62 is mounted adjacent one end of the box and has its opposite ends being in engagement with the side walls 12 and 14 and one of its sides being engaged with the end walls 16. A similar mounting block 62 is disposed inengagement with the end wall 18. In order that the mounting member 60 may be swivelly connected to the mounting block 62, it has projected from the lower surface thereof a centrally located circular cross sectional pin 66 which is received within the elongated groove 64.

Referring now to Figure 4 in particular, it will be seen that the barrel 32 and its associated plunger 44 may be moved to any desired position transversely of the box and the shuflleboard 28.

In order that the rear end of the barrel 32 may be slid transversely of the box and also pivot, the major part of the upper portion of the end walls 16 are removed in order to provide clearance for the barrel 32 as is best illustrated in Figure 4. Also, foul boards 67 extending between the side walls 12 and 14 of the box have their opponents slides a game piece 54 along the surface of the board 28 by utilizing the projection means 30. The other opponent then slides one of his game pieces 54 along the playing surface of the board 28. This continues until all of the game pieces have been slid along the surface of the board 28 by each of the opponents. The object of the game is to slide your game pieces into scoring areas of the board and at the same time, too, either knock your opponents game pieces off the playing surface of the board 28 into the gutter 29 or to move his game pieces to a non-scoring position on the surface of the board 28.

Referring to Figure 1 in particular, it will be seen that the board 28 is provided with a centrally located line 4 68 and other lines 70 and 72 adjacent the ends of the board 28. The lines 68, 70 and 72 divide the playing surface of the board 28 into a plurality of scoring areas whereby game pieces 54 disposed therein will earn the player a certain number of points, one of the requirements of the game being that the game pieces 54 must be across the center line 68 in order to score at all. Also, it is obvious that the highest score will be given to game pieces 54 which are in that area marked off by the line 72 and its associated end of the board 28.

It is intended that the playing surface of the board 28 be coated with wax in order that the game pieces 54 may easily slide thereon. Due to the position of the gutter 29 around the board 28, all excess wax will be deposited in the gutter and will not be spread on the table or other surface 20 on which the game is mounted.

While the members 54 have been referred to as being game pieces, it will be understood that the members of the different opponents will be marked so as to identify the particular members and may be called weights, pucks etc.

The operation of this device will be understood from the foregoing description of the details thereof, taken in conjunction with the above recited objects and drawings. Further description would appear to be unnecessary.

Minor modifications of the device, varying in minor details from the embodiment of the device illustrated and described here, may be resorted to without departure from the spirit and scope of this invention, as defined in the appended claim.

Having described the invention, what is claimed as new A gameboard comprising an open box having upstanding end and side walls, a playing surface within said box and offset vertically from the bottom of the box, said playing surface being spaced from the end and side walls of the box to form a continuous gutter around said box, the playing surface being spaced from the end walls of the box a greater distance than the spacing from the side walls thereof, projector mounting means mounted on the bottom of said box at each end thereof, the projector mounting means including a block extending transversely of the box, said blocks being spaced from respective ends of said playing surface, said block having a groove in the upper surface thereof, said groove extending longitudinally of the block and adapted to receive a projector, foul boards extending transversely between and connecting together said side walls intermediate the ends thereof, said foul boards being spaced above said playing surface a distance to permit the clearance of a game piece, said end walls having large portions thereof removed to provide clearance for projectors.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Kotler Oct. 28, 1941 

